26 April 2013

Friends, it has come to my attention that I cannot refrain from shedding light on a significant issue ravaging adult persons like myself. Those of us who are under the employ of institutions of supplementary learning and additional acquisition of skills or knowledge may find yourselves strongly agreeing with what I have to say.

To start, I would like to acknowledge that an institution of supplementary learning in layman's terms indicates tutoring services and test preparation among other subjects of "supplementary learning." Having been said, these establishments typically cater to students anywhere from nursery school to college. Hence, the characteristic hours of operation of a typical such institution is considered "after-school" which begins on any weekday at 3 PM and on weekends at any time during the day although mornings are widely favored.

However, the issue at hand concerns the lack of any social calendar that I have recently come to realize. For those of us who rely on the hourly wages we earn, it is necessary to comply with the given rate and schedule we are assigned. Being employed at such an establishment, however, implies that you will also be working during "after-school" hours. In my case, I typically work from 4 to 7:30 during the week although I often end up staying until 8. Despite working on business days, I've found that the world does socialize during the week.

Within the past several days, I have been forced to cancel several social engagements using the excuse "I have work" which quite frankly, makes me a little upset. I have no issue with my place of employment (Hi Marcus) nor do I have any issue with the hours I have been assigned. My qualms lie in the fact that my social activity is now largely reliant on my work schedule.

Basically: I'm growing up, I have a job, I feel old, the world revolves around the typical "9-5" job, I do not have such a job, social engagements are now a third (maybe fourth) priority, the "work" excuse makes me sad and I've never liked it, and I can't wait to learn some architecture.

Please pay no mind to the fact that this post has gone from very formal writing to sloppy mishmash. It is midnight on a Friday and I have to go to bed because I have work tomorrow.

25 April 2013

Insomnia. It attacks us all at the worst times: before a final exam, before the championship game, before the first day of classes, and every other bad occasion you can think of. If you've never experienced insomnia, then drink a couple cups of coffee an hour before you go to bed. Trust me, you'll regret it.

The worst thing about insomnia is that one sleepless night can mess up your entire sleep schedule for many nights to come. Soon, going to bed at 6 in the morning will become the norm. Once you finish your day, you'll be so exhausted that you'll plop into bed despite the early hour then wake up later at 2. Sucks, right?

WELL I haven't gotten to the very worst part yet: Insomnia is a direct trigger of online shopping. If I can recount correctly, I'd say 25% of my entire wardrobe was the result of after-midnight sleepless binge shopping. Frequented sites like Uniqlo and ASOS and their demeaning "Thank you for your order" banners thrive off your insomnia and your wallet.

Subsequently, I have once again become a victim of ITBS: Insomnia-Triggered Binge Shopping. The symptoms are a racing mind, sleeplessness, and a hungry stomach. The (quite fatal) side effects include unexpected packages containing items you like but don't love and a very empty wallet. Side effects can be worsened if a computer is conveniently located within reach of your bed. To protect yourself from ITBS, refrain from drinking caffeinated beverages after 3 PM, refrain from indulging in overly sugary desserts prior to going to bed, and do everything in your power to just fall asleep.

And if you were curious at all, I just bought a men's sweater and a pair of ankle boots off ASOS. Also worth mentioning: ASOSprices are cheaper in GBP, plus 1GBP > 1USD, so sales take off more $$ in GBP (does that make sense? sorry, my brain's fried)

24 April 2013

She's an artist, she's a writer, and she was featured on Forbes.com. Her name is Jessica Hagy and she is my new best friend.

Ideally, I would introduce our beautiful new friendship by recalling where we first discovered each other but alas, my memory ceases to recall yet another moment in my thrilling 18 years. Despite my failing memory (and possible early-onset Alzheimer's), the story continues with How to Be Interesting: An Instruction Manual. As a direct result of my dorkiness and book-worm-iness, I looked it up on Goodreads then immediately requested it from the beloved Queens Library. Several days later, I picked it up and upon cracking open the cover, I was immediately transmogrified into the most interesting person ever!Just kidding I'm still pretty boring.Despite my perpetual OMG-I'm-so-interesting-jk-i'm-really-incredibly-boring charades, I stand by my declaration of friendship with Jessica. Why?BECAUSE WE HAVE INCREDIBLY SIMILAR THOUGHTS. If I had Jessica's graph and diagram-making skills and if I had thought of this first, then I could have written my own version of How to be Interesting! But I didn't. I can live with that though. To close, here are the golden 10 steps to become more interesting:1. Go exploring.Explore ideas, places, and opinions. The inside of the echo chamber is where all the boring people hang out.

2. Share what you discover.

And be generous when you do. Not everybody went exploring with you. Let them live vicariously through your adventures.

3. Do something. Anything.

Dance. Talk. Build. Network. Play. Help. Create. It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you’re doing it. Sitting around and complaining is not an acceptable form of ‘something,’ in case you were wondering.

4. Embrace your innate weirdness.

No one is normal. Everyone has quirks and insights unique to themselves. Don’t hide these things—they are what make you interesting.

5. Have a cause.

If you don’t give a damn about anything, no one will give a damn about you.

6. Minimize the swagger.

Egos get in the way of ideas. If your arrogance is more obvious than your expertise, you are someone other people avoid.

7. Give it a shot.Try it out. Play around with a new idea. Do something strange. If you never leave your comfort zone, you won’t grow.

8. Hop off the bandwagon.If everyone else is doing it, you’re already late to the party. Do your own thing, and others will hop onto the spiffy wagon you built yourself. Besides, it’s more fun to drive than it is to get pulled around.

9. Grow a pair.Bravery is needed to have contrary opinions and to take unexpected paths. If you’re not courageous, you’re going to be hanging around the water cooler, talking about the guy who actually is.

10. Ignore the scolds.Boring is safe, and you will be told to behave yourself. The scolds could have, would have, should have. But they didn’t. And they resent you for your adventures.

It makes me a little sad to admit that I've barely touched my DSLR since acquiring a Canon point-and-shoot. However, I haven't used my point-and-shoot in quite a while either. To make matters worse, I must proclaim that I've officially become "one of those people who takes pictures with their iPhone."

This is also my 365th post! Huzzah, an entire year's worth of jibber jabber (including every nonsensical post written during the wee hours of the day) To celebrate, here are some iPhone pictures...

20 April 2013

One thing that I really enjoy about taking the train is that I have decreed it designated reading time during which I can catch up on my reading. As of late, I've been taking the train so often that it has become the only time I actually read.
I finished Sam Lipsyte's The Fun Parts yesterday on my return trip home from work but didn't make it to the library in time to pick up my requested copy of Jessica Hagy's How to Be Interesting. Fully aware that I would be spending about four hours commuting the next day, I asked my sister to borrow her copy of the much-beloved Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Four hours later and I remember why this series is widely appreciated. The last (and first) time I read the fifth book in JK Rowling's series was probably in third or fourth grade, so it felt really nice to experience Harry Potter's Wizarding World again after so long. I also now know what horn-rimmed glasses are and thus can't get the image of Percy and Arthur Weasley donning said glasses out of my head. Such hipsters.

One thing that I found incredibly pleasant was that JKR is much funnier than I could previously recall. Despite the melancholic and pensive themes throughout the Harry Potter series, JKR manages to slip in a few genuinely funny bits that even got me smiling on the train. Maybe you'll find it amusing too. Here's an excerpt:

“Fred and George have invented Extendable Ears, see,” said Ron. “They’re really useful.”

“Extendable -?”

“Ears, yeah. Only we’ve had to stop using them lately because Mum found out and went berserk. Fred and George had to hide them all to stop Mum binning them. But we got a good bit of use out of them before Mum realized what was going on. We know some of the Order are following known Death Eaters, keeping tabs on them, you know -”

“Some of them are working on recruiting more people to the Order -” said Hermione.

“And some of them are standing guard over something,” said Ron. “They’re always talking about guard duty.”

19 April 2013

It's here! It's here, it's here, it's here!
Even though it's been on my mind for the past week, I just discovered my recently delivered TIME100 issue! If you can't tell, this is my favorite issue of the year, topping Vogue's September issue AND every ArchDigest issue.

What I love about Time's 100 Most Influential People in the World is that everyone is related to each other. TIME carefully picks 100 fantastic, wonderful, amazing, inspiring, and downright AWESOME people then picks another 100 people to write short passages about them. I absolutely love when one influential person's passage is written by another influential person. Not only do you get to read what this influential person thinks about that influential person, but you also get a glimpse into their writing style and I just find that so wonderful.

I love this issue so much that I will flip through it, reread it, and mark it up every day for the next week or two. You learn about people's successes and the things they overcame and what people think of them. You are inspired and awed at the magnitude of each person's influence. You gain 100 new role models and you aspire to join them in the ranks of Time's 100.

As of late, the Brooklyn Bridge and I have developed a casual rapport that is fueled by my perpetual free time. Actually, it's just a very coincidental pair of scheduling differences. My there and back again trips today total my number of walks this week to a whopping three!

But as much as I enjoy the walks along the bridge, my favorite part is the final destination going Brooklyn-bound. Actually, I much prefer the Manhattan-bound trip because it has a slighter incline and you can look at the lovely skyline (whee!). Anyway, I love spending a solitary hour or two in Brooklyn Heights or at the park because it's just so lovely and wonderful, especially during the summer with the waterfront breeze. Dumbo also has bookstores which I tend to drift toward. :)

However, it makes me sad to admit that I won't be spending much time in Bklyn this summer. (There's money to be made and bills to be paid!) I do encourage you to, though. The park hosts events throughout the summer and the pool is open until Labor Day and there's the ferry! Ferries are fun.

18 April 2013

I spent a couple hours in my ~new workplace~ today as part of a "training and getting comfortable period" and I have really good feelings about this one, you guys.
Turns out that other than office work and assistant teaching, they want me to teach writing to students through blogging which made me really excited and eager to start (Marcus, if you ever come across this: Hi!)

Yep, that's my ~pleasant surprise~ but I also saw a Mud truck on Bell which got me really excited too... But in other news, I am trying to sell my bike so if anyone wants to purchase a barely used green Trek Allant WSDthat comes with a BASKET!, send them my way. It's a really cute bike and I really like it, but it doesn't fit into my lifestyle right now :(

I've also been relatively busy these past couple days and for the next couple days which has deprived me of my baking needs. I was asked to make another batch of zucchini bread for Saturday night, but this chickadee doesn't really have time for that anymore. There's also red velvet cake on my queue (yummy!)

Last but not least: I've gotten a new and unexpected hastiness for the fall semester to come because I just can't wait to dive back into architecture. and I'm almost all caught up with Game of Thrones. #addicted

Disclaimer: Please note that I typically do not condone any usage of #firstworldproblems or any discussion of "first world problems." There is no such thing and people just gotta suck it up. But it's 2 AM and I am sorry, world.

13 April 2013

Alas, the long-awaited (HA) second part of a continuous series on ambiversion.

My will to write this has been prompted by this Forbes article on, you guessed it, ambiverts. As it turns out a Wharton professor claims that ambiverts are great salespeople, thus fully explaining my excellent Girl Scout cookie sales. Once again, those who lie in the middle of this range seem to be greater than either extreme. Pay attention, kids: Well-rounded ambiverts may one day be the new extrovert, thus converting the "Extrovert Ideal" to the "Ambivert Ideal." Well-rounded folk were once incredibly highly regarded, you know—Ever hear of the Renaissance man?

All in all, it's time to open your eyes and learn to embrace ambiverts. Can't quite figure out if you belong to this highly illustrious group of people? Take this quick assessment from author Dan Pink.

Happy Saturday!
ALSO: For those of you in the Greater New York area, you may get a chance to see the Aurora Borealis tonight without leaving the 212/718 area codes. Duck outside sometime around 8 and keep your eyes open! For more information, click here.

11 April 2013

I just rediscovered someone whom I once knew in high school. She's a fashion blogger now and I realized that her blog is way more successful than mine. It's because she's a fashion blogger.

As much as I embrace and appreciate fashion and the fashion world, I could never be a full-time fashion blogger. It just seems so self-revolving, and quite frankly, there aren't many people who would be willing to follow me around taking pictures if I ever decide to leave the house wearing something decent. Sure, I could put on a few outfits and pretend to be some fantastic fashionista who has everything going for her, but who is?

As much as I love Leandra and Aimee, I really can't grasp the idea that some people devote so much time to their self-made fashionista visage, but if you look through Bloglovin, nearly all the popular blogs are related to fashion.

I suppose people think that fashion blogging is like a gateway to fame, thus tickling themselves to create their own in efforts to put themselves in the spotlight. But to my misfortune, fashion blogs are what people want to read these days, not some of the pointless jibber jabber that I sometimes (or always) write.

All in all, the success of peers has led me down a dark and dangerous path of incompetence which has resulted in the desire to write something more meaningful and substantial that can gain recognition by readers everywhere and make myself feel a little more better. But if people everywhere want fashion blogging, well then I'll just have to give up, huh?

10 April 2013

I would remember every face and name I've ever come across.
I would remember how I spent the summer of 2005,
And I would remember every fact I learned in high school physics.
I would have been a straight-A student
And I would be attending the college of my dreams
Where I would remember every face and fact I would encounter on that campus.
But I don't have an eidetic memory.

I don't remember every face or name I've ever come across.
I don't remember how I spent the summer before entering the sixth grade
And I hardly remember anything from physics aside from F=ma.
I'm not even enrolled in school
And there aren't facts or faces to remember

But that's okay
Because I'm Julia and I'm not expected to be perfect.
I'm allowed to make mistakes
So I will.
And I'll keep making them until the end of time.

Quick note: It may not be such a good idea to link your personal blog to your resume. They could read about all your shortcomings. My mistake.

On this wonderfully grand yet utterly pointless holiday, let's take a moment to remember 10 important things that happened to you in the past 100 days.
Here goes nothing:
1. I quit school (holla!)
2. From 9 interviews, I landed one job
3. I couldn't land a job that three of my friends have (which is severely depressing)
4. I learned how to bake banana bread and have not stopped baking since the day I came home
5. I haven't weighed myself lately, but I'm pretty sure I gained a few pounds le sigh
6. Since leaving school, I've realized that I can only miss crew more and more
7. Finally fixed my bike! (but I'm not quite sure it's quite right)
8. I've learned to appreciate my current situation and have been reassured that my leaving school was the right thing to do
9. Realized that blogging is a good way to hook interviews
10. I got a new pair of sunnies.

Wow this list is pretty pathetic. Perhaps I should've asked for 10 things I've learned or realized in the past 100 days. I mean really, who experiences something important every 10 days? Well, I can think of a few people... but us normal folks really have it hard, huh? Or maybe it's just me... because I have nothing to do.

Regardless of my shortcomings, think of 10 of your own things to remember these past 100 days by...

05 April 2013

We have introverts, extroverts, and yes—ambiverts. Ambiverts, as the name would suggest, are those of us who fall somewhere between introversion and extraversion. As a matter of fact, I think I'm one.

Based on the introvert and extrovert questionnaires, I fell somewhere in between. All my life, I've identified as an introvert and all of a sudden, I'm not. This can mean one of several things:

I'm a really good pseudo-extrovert

Somewhere along the 18 years of my life, I've developed extroverted qualities to enhance my inner pseudo-extrovert

I'm simply an ambivert and never even realized

While I was compiling that list of possibilities explaining the sudden unearthing of hidden identity, I realized that there is no way that I'm an extrovert. No way. Absolutely NONE.

First I'd like to point out something important: being introverted is not a bad thing. Seriously, it isn't. About 50% of the population is an introvert or introvert-leaning (like me) so chances are, you know quite a number of introverts.

Anyway, I concluded that I can't be an extrovert because no matter how much I enjoy going out or spending time with my friends, my ideal vacation would be spent reading on the beach, I enjoy lazing around at home, and if I could, I would just stay at home and waste away for the rest of my life although that is incredibly unhealthy and I do not recommend that to anyone. But no, I do not relish massive social interaction or social activity in groups larger than the number of fingers I have on either hand. Heck, I didn't even go to prom and I severely doubt I actually missed out on anything momentous.

But yes, I am an introversion-leaning ambivert. I'll have to continue reading my book to find out if that's already an established identity. But if not, this is written proof that I've independently arrived to this conclusion without the aid of outside sources. It probably is though.

04 April 2013

1. Do you prefer one-on-one conversations to group activities?
2. Do you often prefer to express yourself in writing?
3. Do you enjoy solitude?
4. Do you seem to care less than your peers about wealth, fame, and status?
5. Do you dislike small talk, but enjoy talking in depth about topics that matter to you?
6. Do people tell you that you're a good listener?
7. Do you avoid taking big risks?
8. Do you enjoy work that allows you to "dive in" with few interruptions?
9. Do you like to celebrate birthdays on a small scale with only a few close friends or family members?
10. Do people describe you as "soft-spoken" or "mellow?"
11. Do you prefer not to show or discuss your work with others until it's finished?
12. Do you dislike conflict?
13. Do you do your best work on your own?
14. Do you tend to think before you speak?
15. Do you feel drained after being out and about, even if you enjoyed yourself?
16. Do you often let calls go through to voicemail?
17. If you had to choose, would you prefer a weekend with absolutely nothing to do over one with too many things scheduled?
18. Do you dislike or don't enjoy multitasking?
19. Can you concentrate easily?
20. Do you prefer lectures to seminars in classroom situations?

If you answered "No" to any majority of the questions listed above, congratulations! The more times you answered "No," the more extroverted you are. Extroverts are often characterized by their gregariousness, comfort in the spotlight, and preference of action to contemplation. Fun fact: the United States is among the most extroverted of nations.

Extroverts are lucky in that they are comfortable living in the "Extrovert Ideal" because their true characteristics are prized and considered 'ideal.' The Extrovert Ideal is the belief that the ideal person is friendly, sociable, and outgoing, all traits that shape an extrovert.

01 April 2013

Hey, world! Guess what? I just won $20k off a scratch off!!!! You can't even begin to imagine how excited I am!!! The first thing I'm going to buy is a new pair of shoes, then I'm going to splurge and invest the rest in Starbucks!!!

Heh jk/ happy April fool's!
But seriously, that's probably what I would do. What would you do with $20,000?